Beauty and the beast

Well they do say that if March comes in like a lamb then it goes out like a lion - so all I can say is, take cover at the end of March!

I was joined by my friend M this morning, Bruce's surrogate mother, and we all went down to the riverside for a magical walk. I would truly be happy if this had been a summer's day and the only tell tale that it wasn't was the lack of foliage on the trees! The river level had dropped by at least three feet since my last visit and today it was sparkling and blue instead of raging and grey. Large boulders were now sitting proud of the water, having been fully immersed only recently, and as I looked at them guaging the depth of water that had fallen I noticed this gorgeous dipper enjoying the sunshine on the rock. At the end of the riverbank track, the path takes a detour under the remains of a railway bridge and nestling underneath, surrounded by the mossy remains of fallen trees, were clumps of snowdrops. As the only other snowdrop I have blipped this year was one that a mouse had nibbled on my rockery I decided to blip this beauty in her natural woodland surroundings. I popped the camera underneath her billowing white skirt and pressed the shutter, hoping to capture translucent petals against the blue sky - what I didn't bargain for was the wee companion who I only spotted when the image was cropped on the PC at home. It made me smile but I apologise to Aperture on Life for calling it a beast as I know she has a penchant for wee insects! Anyway, on our way back along the river the dogs had been well exercised and so were just jogging along the path together when Bruce decided to have a quick guddle to see if he could find any stones to retrieve from the river bed. Cara seems somewhat perplexed at him here.

Back home I felt really energised by my delightful walk and set to with cleaning the glass on the greenhouse while Cara and Bruce lay outside companionably in the sunshine watching me work. The next job will be to sow some seeds but I thought it best to do that in the morning with the promise of a full day's warmth to help them on their way!